Michael Venturi

The accused was charged with sexual assault against his former common-law partner.

Both parties acknowledged that sexual activity occurred, making consent the sole issue at trial.

The court applied the W.(D.) framework to assess the conflicting testimony regarding the events.

Finding the evidence ambiguous and noting alternative explanations for the complainant's post-incident demeanour, the court concluded the Crown failed to prove the absence of consent beyond a reasonable doubt and acquitted the accused.

The appellant appealed his conviction for 'Over 80'.

At trial, the judge found that police breached the appellant's s. 8 Charter rights by conducting an unlawful search of his vehicle under the Liquor License Act, but admitted the breath samples under s. 24(2).

On appeal, the court found the trial judge erred in principle by failing to properly balance the Grant factors and by treating the reliability of breath samples as determinative.

The appeal court conducted a fresh s. 24(2) analysis, finding the breach was moderately serious and had a significant impact on the appellant's privacy interests, as the evidence was not otherwise discoverable.

The breath samples were excluded, the conviction quashed, and an acquittal entered.

The accused, charged with sexual assault and sexual interference, brought an application for a stay of proceedings under s. 24(1) of the Charter, alleging a breach of her s. 11(b) right to be tried within a reasonable time.

The court analyzed the 891-day period between arrest and the scheduled trial date.

After deducting delay attributable to the defence and inherent time requirements, the remaining delay was approximately 11 months, which fell well within the 14 to 18-month guideline established in Morin.

Finding no actual prejudice linked to the delay, the court dismissed the application.